Management UPDATE: Steve Staios GM and POHO, Dave Poulin Senior VP of Hockey Operations

[BankStreetParade]

Look where we currently are. Do you really think that firing DJ 10 games earlier would have us 20 points ahead of where we are right now? I think there's a high probability that that is nonsense. The record under Martin hasn't changed anything. Do you think that giving Jacques a bit more practice time really changes things? We've lost 7 in a row.

We fired him 13 games after the point I'm talking about. Is 20 points in 13 games doable? Possible but not likely. A stretch, for sure. But there are combinations of records that net us 14-17 points in that span. Even a pretty mediocre 7-6 record in that 13 games would put us at 68 points, at the moment, and 4 points back of Detroit with 2 games in hand. AKA firmly in the wild card conversation.

The point is, a lot of this team's performance this year boils down to confidence and mental difficulties. Look at their body language from near the beginning of the year when the writing was on the wall for DJ. The soft goals were crushing the players mentally which made them scared to make mistakes which affected their play and lead to defensive breakdowns and gaffes which lead to more bad goals etc.

There's a version of this season where a new coaching voice, using that soft part of the schedule around the European games, is able to help turn this team around mentally. They're able to instill some confidence in the guys and who knows what team we're looking at now. Probably a team that's inconsistent but at least they'd be hovering around the wild card. This team had enough talent, even with whatever roster construction stuff people like to throw around, to at least be in the hunt for a wild card spot.

 

[Micklebot]

We fired him 13 games after the point I'm talking about. Is 20 points in 13 games doable? Possible but not likely. A stretch, for sure. But there are combinations of records that net us 14-17 points in that span. Even a pretty mediocre 7-6 record in that 13 games would put us at 68 points, at the moment, and 4 points back of Detroit with 2 games in hand. AKA firmly in the wild card conversation.

The point is, a lot of this team's performance this year boils down to confidence and mental difficulties. Look at their body language from near the beginning of the year when the writing was on the wall for DJ. The soft goals were crushing the players mentally which made them scared to make mistakes which affected their play and lead to defensive breakdowns and gaffes which lead to more bad goals etc.

There's a version of this season where a new coaching voice, using that soft part of the schedule around the European games, is able to help turn this team around mentally. They're able to instill some confidence in the guys and who knows what team we're looking at now. Probably a team that's inconsistent but at least they'd be hovering around the wild card. This team had enough talent, even with whatever roster construction stuff people like to throw around, to at least be in the hunt for a wild card spot.

I agree with your point about confidence, I just don't think the difference in coaching is enough to overcome the goaltending, which imo, is the biggest reason why our confidence is shot.

In fact, I think part of why the confidence is so shot is because the coach got them to believe everything would work out if they played the right way and when they did it, goaltending continued to drag them down making it feel like losing is/was inevitable.

 

[JD1]

We fired him 13 games after the point I'm talking about. Is 20 points in 13 games doable? Possible but not likely. A stretch, for sure. But there are combinations of records that net us 14-17 points in that span. Even a pretty mediocre 7-6 record in that 13 games would put us at 68 points, at the moment, and 4 points back of Detroit with 2 games in hand. AKA firmly in the wild card conversation.

The point is, a lot of this team's performance this year boils down to confidence and mental difficulties. Look at their body language from near the beginning of the year when the writing was on the wall for DJ. The soft goals were crushing the players mentally which made them scared to make mistakes which affected their play and lead to defensive breakdowns and gaffes which lead to more bad goals etc.

There's a version of this season where a new coaching voice, using that soft part of the schedule around the European games, is able to help turn this team around mentally. They're able to instill some confidence in the guys and who knows what team we're looking at now. Probably a team that's inconsistent but at least they'd be hovering around the wild card. This team had enough talent, even with whatever roster construction stuff people like to throw around, to at least be in the hunt for a wild card spot.

You're normally pretty sensible but you're not making much sense here. In the 13 games prior to being fired, we were 5-8. It looks like you're counting points as though we were 0-13 in that span. A "mediocre" 7-6 would have us 4 points (14 points versus the 10 we got) ahead of where we are.

I look back on it and think we should have changed coaches prior to the season or not at all. The only value we are getting out of this coaching change is seeing how the players perform with a different voice in their heads.

We see a lot of reference to January 13 as a turnaround point. Well, after last night we are 11-10-4 since that date. What's worse is 7 of those games have been against bottom feeders. 9 if you count the Habs as fellow bottom feeders so it is our weakest 25 game schedule of the year I presume. 9 out of 25 against bottom feeding teams is a lot. We went 4-5 btw.

 

[Crosside]

Just Patrick Roy could have be capable to turn this group in winning but our rookie gm let him go. Unforgivable mistake, gonna hunt this team for years

 

[JD1]

I agree with your point about confidence, I just don't think the difference in coaching is enough to overcome the goaltending, which imo, is the biggest reason why our confidence is shot.

In fact, I think part of why the confidence is so shot is because the coach got them to believe everything would work out if they played the right way and when they did it, goaltending continued to drag them down making it feel like losing is/was inevitable.

The goaltending has been crap all year. I made the point several times that no coach was going to win consistently with the goaltending that DJ was getting. I was told it was lack of structure, blowing the zone, breakouts, you name it. Then we had a little good stretch and it really amped up around "we were right all along" and here we are now. The "we were right" voices have died down, goaltending is still not consistent enough for us to consistently win and here we are.

Yes there are structural differences. But it's not making much difference is it?

 

[Crosside]

The goaltending has been crap all year. I made the point several times that no coach was going to win consistently with the goaltending that DJ was getting. I was told it was lack of structure, blowing the zone, breakouts, you name it. Then we had a little good stretch and it really amped up around "we were right all along" and here we are now. The "we were right" voices have died down, goaltending is still not consistent enough for us to consistently win and here we are.

Yes there are structural differences. But it's not making much difference is it?

This team needs a coach with emotion that will kick ass. A motivator to start games at time. Put Hartley or Roy here and watch this team go in miracles run

 

[JD1]

This team needs a coach with emotion that will kick ass. A motivator to start games at time. Put Hartley or Roy here and watch this team go in miracles run

Crosside I normally appreciate your opinions but on coaching I for the most part interpret your view as "put a French guy in there"

Hartley hasn't been in the league in a long time and his cup win was over 20 years ago. He had several first ballot hall of Famers on that team.

Roy. That's just a big no thanks. He's been out of the league for a long time and the only guy that would give him a job is a guy that's so old he's not concerned about hiring a coach that might come gunning for the GM job.

Btw, our ratio this year of scoring first with DJ was really good

 

[Golden_Jet]

We fired him 13 games after the point I'm talking about. Is 20 points in 13 games doable? Possible but not likely. A stretch, for sure. But there are combinations of records that net us 14-17 points in that span. Even a pretty mediocre 7-6 record in that 13 games would put us at 68 points, at the moment, and 4 points back of Detroit with 2 games in hand. AKA firmly in the wild card conversation.

No, that’s wrong, as I mentioned to yesterday. that would mean they went 0-13 in order to get to 68 points.
They went 5-8.
7-6 gives them 58 points, 2 more wins.

winning all 13 games gets them to 70.

 

[kilroy]

Most of this season's issues can be pinned down to the delayed ownership change.

The old regime wasn't going to suddenly change opinion and dump DJ, and Andlauer didn't take full control until September. By at that point there really wasn't any good coaching or GM candidates left available. Plus, changing tack that close to the start of the season is very risky.

That's likely why Andlauer and Staios were very reticent to upend the whole thing, waiting until their hands were forced to remove the GM and coach. It's also why they haven't actually replaced both yet.

if I were Andlauer, I'd be much angrier with the NHL over how long the sale took vs the forfeited draft picks. It effectively forced them to run the same old crew out and hope things magically worked out this time.

 

[Loach]

Most of this season's issues can be pinned down to the delayed ownership change.

The old regime wasn't going to suddenly change opinion and dump DJ, and Andlauer didn't take full control until September. By at that point there really wasn't any good coaching or GM candidates left available. Plus, changing tack that close to the start of the season is very risky.

That's likely why Andlauer and Staios were very reticent to upend the whole thing, waiting until their hands were forced to remove the GM and coach. It's also why they haven't actually replaced both yet.

if I were Andlauer, I'd be much angrier with the NHL over how long the sale took vs the forfeited draft picks. It effectively forced them to run the same old crew out and hope things magically worked out this time.

How the hell does it need 3 months to wrap the deal up? The sale went for over a year, new parties kept being added, bids where reviewed multiple times. Makes no sense.

 

[Senscore]

How the hell does it need 3 months to wrap the deal up? The sale went for over a year, new parties kept being added, bids where reviewed multiple times. Makes no sense.

Lawyers, accountants, clerks, meetings, papers, etc. The usual hangups I'd expect.

 

[Loach]

Lawyers, accountants, clerks, meetings, papers, etc. The usual hangups I'd expect.

What? Andlauer even said he didn't know why it took so long. They went over his bid a bunch of times. Then he gets it and it takes another 3 months....fishy

 

[Philadelphia Collins]

I get that nobody really wanted Kubalik/Kastelic but man it would be nice to watch some young Belleville players playing down the stretch in garbage time instead of them lol

 

[mysens]

What? Andlauer even said he didn't know why it took so long. They went over his bid a bunch of times. Then he gets it and it takes another 3 months....fishy

I bet a lot of it had to do with the EM family and affairs. There is a probate period for estates when death is involved. On top of that, there are creditors, banks etc involved in all disbursements of funds of the sale. The creditors all need to submit their payouts etc. Then I am sure there is the ex-wife of EM that also is entitled to something on the sale. So they need to bring in evaluations from all parties involved. Unfortunately, when consummating a deal with whomever you choose to deal with, you will have to deal with their side. Buying this team was not so black and white. Too bad as a lot of other things went on beyond Andlauer control in the meantime. The ghost of EM is still lurking and will be for some time.

 

[GCK]

Just Patrick Roy could have be capable to turn this group in winning but our rookie gm let him go. Unforgivable mistake, gonna hunt this team for years

Pat Roy was not the right guy. There are way better options coming this summer.

 

[Crosside]

Pat Roy was not the right guy. There are way better options coming this summer.

Maybe if Carolina fired Rod or Tampa Cooper I have no faith in Berube and Gruden

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I always enjoy your comments BonHoon: knowledgeable, thoughtful, articulate.

Right back at you LiseL. You made my day

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Just Patrick Roy could have be capable to turn this group in winning but our rookie gm let him go. Unforgivable mistake, gonna hunt this team for years

Relax dude.

 

[BankStreetParade]

You're normally pretty sensible but you're not making much sense here. In the 13 games prior to being fired, we were 5-8. It looks like you're counting points as though we were 0-13 in that span. A "mediocre" 7-6 would have us 4 points (14 points versus the 10 we got) ahead of where we are.

I look back on it and think we should have changed coaches prior to the season or not at all. The only value we are getting out of this coaching change is seeing how the players perform with a different voice in their heads.

We see a lot of reference to January 13 as a turnaround point. Well, after last night we are 11-10-4 since that date. What's worse is 7 of those games have been against bottom feeders. 9 if you count the Habs as fellow bottom feeders so it is our weakest 25 game schedule of the year I presume. 9 out of 25 against bottom feeding teams is a lot. We went 4-5 btw.

No, that’s wrong, as I mentioned to yesterday. that would mean they went 0-13 in order to get to 68 points.
They went 5-8.
7-6 gives them 58 points, 2 more wins.

winning all 13 games gets them to 70.

Shoot, that's my bad. Definitely forgot to factor in their actual record vs. what a mediocre record could have achieved.

The point I'm making is this team looked defeated mentally at the beginning of the year. You could see the body language of the team in the early part of the season already needed a reset. A lot of frustration, a lot of disbelief, a lot of bad puck luck (for lack of a better term). A change was needed early on to prevent this from compounding. That's the key to the whole dilemma. The longer it continued, the worse it got. The goalies didn't play well which changed the way the skaters played in front of them which resulted in worse play which resulted in more goals and on and on.

Between Nov. 12 and Nov. 30, they played 4 games in total. I can't help but think a coaching change with a light schedule over those 18 days could have been a recipe for better longterm results. Whatever DJ was saying to them clearly wasn't working anymore. A new voice, earlier in the season, could have had a real, tangible effect on their belief in themselves.

The 82 game season is about performance over multiple 10 game samples. This team has gotten about 9/20 points over each 10 game segment under Martin. Maybe if he (or another coach) took over before things spiralled out of control, we'd be talking about 12/20 points in each of those 10 games segments. Hardly a remarkable record but we'd be about 10 points ahead of where we are now. I get that it sounds kind of revisionist but it's an estimation of where things could be that actually feels kinda realistic.

That's not to say we'd be guaranteed to make the playoffs or to do anything if we got there but at least we'd be talking about a team that's in the conversation for a wild card, as opposed to firmly in the draft lottery.

That's what I truly believe. This team had the talent to at least be in the wild card conversation. They got destroyed mentally early on and the opportunity to try to undo that came too late.

 

[Loach]

I bet a lot of it had to do with the EM family and affairs. There is a probate period for estates when death is involved. On top of that, there are creditors, banks etc involved in all disbursements of funds of the sale. The creditors all need to submit their payouts etc. Then I am sure there is the ex-wife of EM that also is entitled to something on the sale. So they need to bring in evaluations from all parties involved. Unfortunately, when consummating a deal with whomever you choose to deal with, you will have to deal with their side. Buying this team was not so black and white. Too bad as a lot of other things went on beyond Andlauer control in the meantime. The ghost of EM is still lurking and will be for some time.

So none of this was worked out in the year+ time during the sales process? He said it took too long. Fishyness I say!

 

[aragorn]

They have two RW players who produce pts Batherson & Giroux & who knows how much longer Giroux will play, so it makes no sense for them to move their 2nd best RW Batherson who not that long ago was going to be this team's All-Star player. They have Sokolov RW in Belleville who most have written off, the have Boucher RW hurt again in Belleville who most have written off & they have Petersson RW in Belleville who so far looks quite ordinary, he certainly doesn't have Batherson's playmaking ability or scoring touch. They need at least two good pt producing RWs, one immediately who can start on the 3rd line & move up once Giroux is done. & the other when Giroux finally reitres. Hopefully, Petersson may be ready to fill the 3rd RW spot when Giroux reitres.

It's not the core of young players that should be traded, but the other ten guys on this team who are not producing & helping this team win including both goalies. They need to make a decision between trading Chabot or Chychrun & their are good arguments both ways as to which to trade but would think gven Chychrun's contract he would be much easier to trade & probably closer to living up to his contract than Chabot. If they do trade Chychrun, the draft would be a good place to look into & NJD have a potential top 10/12 pick they could be willing to move & they are weak on their left side. We could also take whatever cap dump they might want to move to clear cap space.

 

[Tuna99]

Pat Roy was not the right guy. There are way better options coming this summer.

Roy is going to take Tampa’s playoff spot away, Tampa fire Cooper, Cooper comes to Ottawa, Sens finish 28th overall

 

[Senscore]

Roy is going to take Tampa’s playoff spot away, Tampa fire Cooper, Cooper comes to Ottawa, Sens finish 28th overall

Cooper has earned at least one dud year given his record.

No way he's fired until the end of next season at least

 

[GCK]

Maybe if Carolina fired Rod or Tampa Cooper I have no faith in Berube and Gruden

Sullivan to Toronto and Keefe to Ottawa.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Sullivan to Toronto and Keefe to Ottawa.

No to Keefe for me.
Didn’t like when he called out his stars, then had to hold a press conference, to explain it, so stars didn’t get as upset.
Then had to call a second press conference a couple of days later, to explain what he was trying to say in the first press conference.